K. C. Cole

A portrait of the brother of famed physicist Robert Oppenheimer describes his own scientific contributions to the atomic bomb, his reemergence after the Red Scare, and his triumphant creation of the influential Exploratorium museum.

Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up

Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens

Cole--a friend and colleague of Frank Oppenheimer's for many years--has drawn from letters, documents, and extensive interviews to write a very personal story of the man whose irrepressible spirit would inspire so many.

Frank Oppenheimer and His Astonishing Exploratorium

The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty

The Universe and the Teacup

A collection of essays by the popular science columnist for the Los Angeles Times reports on the most recent discoveries in physics, cosmology, mathematics, astronomy, and more to reveal the complex nature of the universe and how it is tied to art, politics, and humanity. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

Conversations with the Cosmos

Mind Over Matter

Mathematics, the robust creation of the human mind, reveals the tiniest particles which make up our world and takes us to the farthest points of the universe. Its power is daunting. In this text, science writer K.C. Cole seeks to demystify mathematics using real-life concepts such as risk, scale, cause-and-chance and probability to help break the mind barrier. In its elegance, maths simplifies problems so we can understand and solve them. Our search for the truths of the universe could not succeed without it. Einstein's theory of relativity would never have worked had it not been for a little-known woman mathematician who, in the 19th century, discovered the crucial importance of symmetry to maths and physics. The story of Emmy Noether and Albert Einstein ends an amazing journey which begins in the human mind and finishes at the edges of the universe.

An attempt to demystify mathematics using real life concepts to help break the mind barrier.

This clearly written and compelling look at physics and physicists offers “thousands of new ways to see our daily world more richly” (Douglas Hofstadter, author of Gödel, Escher, Bach). For many of us, physics has always been a thing of mystery and complexity. K. C. Cole, an award-winning science writer, specializes in making its wonders accessible to the everyday reader. This book uses lively prose, metaphors, and anecdotes to allow us to comprehend the nuances of physics: gravity and light, color and shape, quarks and quasars, particles and stars, force and strength. It also shows us how the physical world is so deeply intertwined with the ways we think about culture, poetry, and philosophy, and explores the workings of such legendary scientific minds as Richard Feynman, Victor Weisskopf, brothers Frank Oppenheimer and J. Robert Oppenheimer, Philip Morrison, Vera Kistiakowsky, and Stephen Jay Gould. “An exemplary science writer . . . For readers without scientific background, Cole gracefully introduces relativity, quantum theory, optics, astrophysics, and other significant disciplines, never getting bogged down in unnecessary explanation. Thus, you may not learn all about thermodynamics from reading her chapter on it, but you will learn enough to think seriously about the entropy in your own life. Cole sprinkles her text with comments from famous scientists—‘Space is blue, and birds fly in it,’ said Heisenberg, and Faraday said, ‘Nothing is too wonderful to be true’—that are not only delightful in themselves but perfectly suited to her own text. No review of Cole’s book could be too wonderful to be true.” —Booklist

And Other Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life

First You Build a Cloud

“Ruminations on every scientific subject over the sun—and plenty beyond it”—from the bestselling author of The Universe and the Teacup (The Boston Globe). A San Jose Mercury News Best Book of the Year A recipient of the American Institute of Physics Award for Best Science Writer, K. C. Cole offers a wide-ranging collection of essays about the nature of nature, the universals in the universe, and the messy playfulness of great science. In witty and fresh short takes, she explores some of the world’s most intriguing scientific subjects—from particle physics to cosmology to mathematics and astronomy—and introduces a few of science’s great minds. Revealing the universe to be elegant, intriguing, and, above all, relevant to our everyday lives, this book is “an absolute delight [that] belongs on the bedside bookshelf of every science enthusiast” (San Jose Mercury News). “Cole seeks the wondrous in the stuff we mistake for just ordinary.” —Publishers Weekly K. C. Cole, the Los Angeles Times science writer and columnist, always has a fresh take on cutting-edge scientific discoveries, which she makes both understandable and very human. Reporting on physics, cosmology, mathematics, astronomy, and more, Cole's essays, culled from her popular Mind Over Matter columns, reveal the universe as simple, constant, and complex—and wholly relevant to politics, art, and every dimension of human life.

As a young man Frank Oppenheimer followed in his famous brother's footsteps--growing up in a privileged Manhattan household, becoming a physicist, working on the atomic bomb. Tragically, Frank and Robert both had their careers destroyed by the Red Scare. But their paths diverged. While Robert died an almost ruined man, Frank came into his own, emerging from ten years of exile on a Colorado ranch to create not just a multimillion dollar institution but also a revolution that was felt all over the world. His Exploratorium was a "museum of human awareness" that combined art and science while it encouraged play, experimentation, and a sense of joy and wonder; its success inspired a transformation in museums around the globe. In many ways it was Frank's answer to the atom bomb. K. C. Cole--a friend and colleague of Frank's for many years--has drawn from letters, documents, and extensive interviews to write a very personal story of the man whose irrepressible spirit would inspire so many.

As a young man Frank Oppenheimer followed in his famous brother's footsteps--growing up in a privileged Manhattan household, becoming a physicist, working on the atomic bomb. Tragically, Frank and Robert both had their careers destroyed by the Red Scare, but their paths diverged. While Robert died an almost ruined man, Frank came into his own, emerging from ten years of exile on a Colorado ranch to create not just a multimillion dollar institution but also a revolution that was felt all over the world. His Exploratorium was a "museum of human awareness" that combined art and science while it encouraged play, experimentation, and a sense of joy and wonder; its success inspired a transformation in museums around the globe. K. C. Cole--a friend and colleague of Frank's for many years--has written a very personal story of the man whose irrepressible spirit would inspire so many.--From publisher description.

An Intimate Biography of Frank Oppenheimer

From the acclaimed Los Angeles Times science writer, a wise, witty, and elegant study of how math provides practical solutions to everyday problems. Are the secrets of the universe written in words—or is it all about the digits? K.C. Cole follows up her paean to the power of physics, Sympathetic Vibrations, with this engaging and accessible guide to the might and majesty of mathematics. The Universe and the Teacup uses relatable examples, humorous prose, and whimsical line drawings to demonstrate math’s ability to “translate the complexity of the world into manageable patterns.” Cole shows how mathematical concepts illuminate everything from human risk-taking behavior to astronomical investigation, game theory to logic problems—not to mention the very structure of the universe itself. Brimming with trivia stressing the importance of math throughout history, this is a book both math nerds and the “innumerate” everyday person can enjoy in equal measure. “Cole writes clearly, simply and vividly,” noted The New York Times. “She so obviously likes mathematics, the reader can't help liking it too.” Filled with “a thousand fascinating facts and shrewd observations (Martin Gardner, Los Angeles Times), this book demonstrates how the truth and beauty of everything, from relativity to rainbows, is all in the numbers.

“A compelling, enjoyable, and widely accessible exploration of one of the most fundamental scientific issues of our age” (Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe). In The Hole in the Universe, an award-winning science writer “provides an illuminating slant on physics and mathematics by exploring the concept of nothing” (Scientific American). Welcome to the world of cutting-edge math, physics, and neuroscience, where the search for the ultimate vacuum, the point of nothingness, the ground zero of theory, has rendered the universe deep, rich, and juicy. Every time scientists and mathematicians think they have reached the ultimate void, something new appears: a black hole, an undulating string, an additional dimension of space or time, repulsive anti-gravity, universes that breed like bunnies. Cole’s exploration at the edge of everything is “as playfully entertaining as it is informative” (San Jose Mercury News). “A strong and sometimes mind-blowing introduction to the edges of modern physics.” —Salon.com “Comprising an expansive set of topics from the history of numbers to string theory, the big bang, even Zen, the book’s chapters are broken into bite-sized portions that allow the author to revel in the puns and awkwardness that comes with trying to describe a concept that no one has fully grasped. It is an amorphous, flowing, mind-bending discussion, written in rich, graceful prose. As clear and accessible as Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, this work deserves wide circulation, not just among science buffs.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Here we have the definitive book about nothing, and who would think that nothing could be so interesting . . . not only accessible but compelling reading.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

How Scientists Peered over the Edge of Emptiness and Found Everything

The Hole in the Universe

An introduction to physics examines the theoretical principles developed by Galileo, Bohr, Newton, and other great physicists and explains how the laws of physics pervade all facets of everyday human life

K. C. Cole

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